Syracuse basketball 5-star target Zion Cruz says loyalty ‘really matters’
By Neil Adler
Syracuse basketball high-priority 2022 target Zion Cruz is pumped about playing alongside Orange commit Dior Johnson at Oak Hill.
Syracuse basketball fans are hopeful to potentially see high-school teammates Dior Johnson and Zion Cruz join forces in a dream pairing on the Hill.
Johnson, a 2022 five-star point guard who is No. 3 nationally in that class according to 247Sports, committed to the ‘Cuse back in February.
Meanwhile, 2022 five-star guard Cruz is a high-priority target for the Orange coaching staff, and he is deemed a consensus top-25 prospect in this cycle, per the main recruiting services. ESPN.com presently rates him the highest, at No. 16 overall.
Earlier this year, both elected to transfer for their junior and senior stanzas to the powerhouse prep-school program at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va. Johnson left Mayfair High School in Lakewood, Calif., and Cruz moved on from Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City, N.J.
In a recent interview with Rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi, Cruz says that he sees himself as more of a point guard than a combo guard.
Since Johnson, too, mans the point-guard position, whether that becomes an issue for Syracuse basketball in terms of landing Cruz is something that we’ll have to monitor.
Then again, the 6-foot-3 Johnson has discussed a possible reclassify into the 2021 class, and it’s certainly feasible that these two elite players could get on the court together, regardless of who is officially the point guard.
The ‘Cuse offered a scholarship to Cruz in August of 2019, per 247Sports, and building a relationship with him early on is a positive development.
Conversely, Cruz’s offer list has grown to nearly 20 high-major squads, so competition for him is fierce, to say the least. Since the summer began, he has fielded offers from crews such as Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Maryland, Ohio State, fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Louisville, Iowa and Alabama.
Among his other offers are from California, Connecticut, Auburn, DePaul, LSU, UCLA, St. John’s, Rutgers and additional ACC units in Georgia Tech and Miami.
Industry experts on the primary recruiting Web sites have yet to log predictions for the 6-foot-5 Cruz, as his recruitment still has a ways to go, although Johnson and Cruz each at the Oak Hill Academy is an encouraging sign.
“Me and Dior, we have been looking forward to this for a long time. Now the time has come and we are definitely ready” to suit up at the Oak Hill Academy together, Cruz told Bossi.
Cruz says he’s going to take his time with the recruiting process, let offers continue to come in, and “see which school we like the most.”
Some other interesting nuggets from that interview are that Cruz says he takes “great pride in defense,” loyalty is extremely important to him, and he’s “looking for a place that has an open run where they really just let us play.”
Finally, Cruz did note that his only campus visit to date is to Syracuse basketball. “It was a great experience. I went to the game when they played against Duke, so it was a great experience to watch them go at it,” he says.